{"id":430425,"date":"2026-01-24T14:40:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T14:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/430425\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T14:40:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T14:40:32","slug":"mlas-gather-in-iqaluit-to-hash-out-mandate-before-assembly-opens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/430425\/","title":{"rendered":"MLAs gather in Iqaluit to hash out mandate before assembly opens"},"content":{"rendered":"

Newly elected members meet with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. board and elders<\/p>\n

Newly elected members<\/a> of Nunavut\u2019s seventh legislative assembly worked to hone the government\u2019s new emerging mandate at a caucus retreat in Iqaluit this week, Premier John Main said in an interview Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mandate retreat was an important exercise for us in terms of defining our priority areas,\u201d he said of the three-day gathering of the 22 MLAs that wrapped up Wednesday at the Aqsarniit hotel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still a work in progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Discussions provided a chance to reflect on the needs of Nunavummiut and the opportunities and challenges facing the territory. Talks were grounded in Inuit qaujimajatuqangit, or Inuit traditional knowledge and ways of knowing, Main said.<\/p>\n

The retreat included conversations with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. board members and elders from the Baffin region. Poor weather hampered travel from the other regions.<\/p>\n

Although the mandate remains in draft form, the MLAs built consensus around four \u201cpillars,\u201d Main said, referring to them as \u201cgroups of priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pillars include economic growth and employment; meeting family and community needs; reducing barriers to communication between government departments; and a commitment to consider the territory\u2019s long-term future when MLAs vote in the legislature.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

The meeting piggybacked on a smaller cabinet retreat held in Arviat in December, Main said.<\/p>\n

The nine cabinet members, including Main, plan to refine the draft mandate in coming weeks, he said.<\/p>\n

The last legislative assembly before the Oct. 27 territorial election adopted as a guiding principle Katujjiluta, which in Inuktitut means \u201ca commitment to work in unity to manifest the courageous dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new mandate has a new title, Main said, which will be revealed during the first sitting of the new assembly scheduled to begin Feb. 9.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a strong footing toward progress we will make as a territory over the next four years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Newly elected members meet with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. board and elders Newly elected members of Nunavut\u2019s seventh legislative…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-430425","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}